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Sunday, August 22, 1999 By Bob Smizik, Post-Gazette Sports Columnist
Two old acquaintances came back to town this weekend. It was good to see them. Jay Bell and Tony Womack were two standup guys, two cool professionals in their days with the Pirates.
Both were sent away not for what they didn't do, but because they either made too much money or threatened to make too much.
The fans remembered Friday night when the Arizona Diamondbacks began a three-game series with the Pirates. The receptions for both were a couple of cuts above the norm. Nothing overwhelming, but enough to let the players know they were remembered and their work had been appreciated.
Bell has been gone since 1996, sent off to Kansas City with Jeff King in exchange for four players -- none of whom will likely ever match King's career and certainly not Bell's. Bell has been back before, both with the Royals and Diamondbacks. He was familiar with the routine and handled it well.
As always, he deftly managed the media, never revealing too much but always being cooperative and cordial. He's always known the right thing to say, probably because that's the way he was raised.
"It's nice to come back home and see everybody," he said.
Pirates baseball was pretty special in the early days of Bell's career. He was an integral part -- a Gold Glove-winning shortstop -- who played on three division championship teams. About the only mistake Bell made in Pittsburgh wasn't a mistake at all. When the Pirates felt a need to prove they could keep their players, they bestowed a handsome contract on him in 1993. He, of course, signed, and expectations became large. He wasn't a superstar, even if fans perceived his salary as superstar size.
There were some rough times, but Bell never wavered from his model-citizen approach to the game. Whereas the rolling-in-cash Diamondbacks thirsted after him as a player to build around, the money-starved Pirates couldn't unload his salary quick enough.
Bell headed straight for the Pirates clubhouse almost as soon as he arrived at Three Rivers Stadium Friday. He saw Manager Gene Lamont, pitching coach Pete Vukovich, trainer Kent Biggerstaff and a handful of players who knew him as a teammate. Later, on the field, he chatted with Dale Sveum, never a teammate with the Pirates but a player who was in spring training with the Diamondbacks.
Arizona received harsh criticism from baseball executives for signing Bell to a five-year, $34-million contract in November 1997. The criticism almost has disappeared this season as Bell has been a major factor in the Diamondbacks rise to first place.
He's a second baseman these days, moved over after 12 seasons at shortstop. Bell always cherished his role in the middle of things and it's not likely he gave up shortstop easily. But, true to his nature, he was never heard to utter a public complaint.
In response to his warm reception Friday, Bell homered in his first at bat. It was a clear reminder of what he had become -- a force on one of the best teams in baseball. It was his 30th of the season, a career best. With 83 RBIs and 98 runs scored -- second in the league -- going into last night's game, Bell is on course to break career highs of 92 and 102.
"It's been fun," Bell said. "I'll take a little bit of the credit, but I won't take much of it. I'm convinced it has been the teammates around me. I talked to Andy [Van Slyke] early in the season and to Barry [Bonds] later on and that's exactly what I told them. It reminds me of the years when I had Andy, Bobby [Bonilla] and Barry hitting behind me."
Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams and Steve Finley have mostly hit directly behind Bell this season and their combined numbers -- 74 home runs and 268 RBIs -- are testimony to the Diamondbacks' offensive might.
Of course, the guy up front has something to do with that, too. That would be Womack, who was in his first return to Pittsburgh. Clearly, it had an emotional effect. .
He was traded to Arizona early in spring training for a borderline prospect and a player to be named. The presence of Warren Morris in camp had something to do with that. So did Womack's salary of $1.65 million, which figured to double by next year.
But Womack bears no grudge. To the contrary, he seems to cherish his days as a Pirate. His voice choked on occasion as he talked about his emotions before Friday's game.
"You've been here for eight years of your career, you don't want to go anywhere else," he said. "It's tough, man, it's tough. This organization gave me my first chance to be a major-league player and right now it's real tough for me.
"There are a lot of emotions running through, up and around. Until game time, it's going to be tough. Once the game starts, I'll be OK."
Womack didn't trust himself to go into the Pirates' clubhouse. "I stayed out of the clubhouse. I just stood where everyone came out and talked to them. I have to break the cord somehow, so I'm trying to do it at a slow pace."
He also met with friends from the front office. In his two seasons with the Pirates, Womack was as involved with the community as any player.
Like Bell, Womack has switched positions. He has gone from second base to right field, a difficult transition.
"I'm progressing," he said. "I'm still working at it. I'm handling it a little better than I thought I would, but I still have a long way to go."
When he was a Pirate, there was always unhappiness with Womack's defense and even with his on-base percentage. He's having a similar offensive year in Arizona. He has stolen 51 bases in 58 tries, second in the National League, to go along with a .273 batting average and a .329 on-base percentage.
His work seems much more appreciated in his new home, where he is looked upon as an offensive catalyst.
"He has stolen meaningful bases," said Bell. "When we've needed him to get into scoring position, he's done that. He hasn't stolen just to steal. He's been a very, very good leadoff hitter."
Bell and Womack rank 1-2 in the National League in runs scored per times reaching base. Bell has scored 53 percent of the time, Womack 50 percent.
It's a team of strong offense, but also with solid defense and the kind of pitching -- read that Randy Johnson -- that could lead to an exciting postseason.
However far the Diamondbacks go, they'll take a little bit of Pittsburgh with them.
Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.
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